Focus session · problem solving · 45 min
45-minute problem solving session with plain quiet and a timer, on a low-energy afternoon
Sit down, press start, and stay with the difficulty for 45 minutes. A single class period, the length most people can hold before the quality drops.
45:00
Press start. The timer keeps time so you do not have to look at a clock.
If you're tired, you can let that be true. Tired is allowed here. Low-energy afternoons are what this was written for. Straight through, at a normal pace.
1 Before you start
- Put your phone in another room, or in a drawer you cannot reach without standing up.
- Lower the bar until starting feels almost silly, then start.
- Clear the surface in front of you down to the thing you are working on.
- Decide in advance that a bad sentence is still progress.
- Decide now what you will do when the timer ends. Otherwise the decision will eat the first five minutes.
2 While the timer runs
- When you catch yourself re-reading the same sentence, stop and write down what you were looking for.
- When you have drifted for the fifth time, that is still four returns. Keep going.
- If you are bored, the boredom is usually the last thing before something clicks.
- If a thought will not leave, give it one line on the page and return to the task.
3 When it ends
- Write one line about where to start next time. Future you will be grateful.
- Stand up and move for at least two minutes. The break is part of the method, not a reward.
- Leave the desk tidier than you found it. Two minutes now saves ten later.
4What to put on
plain quiet — No added sound at all. If you have a quiet room, that is usually better than any recording of one.
This page is a tool, not a course. Nothing is tracked, nothing is saved, and nobody is told whether you finished.